A Driving Adventure?

My folks' lives (during the 6 months they park their RV at my brother's house in Washington) revolve around appointments, trips to see family and watching grandchildren participate in sports. So it takes planning for them to schedule a visit to drive down to see us. It occurred to me about 8 days ago to suggest they come down on a weekday. Since our house has become more crowded, it probably doesn't feel like the welcoming, relaxed environment it used to be on the weekends.

Their car needed to be checked out by the repair shop at the dealer. (I'm glad they purchased their car in Salem.) A perfect opportunity/excuse for a visit! I drove to Capitol Subaru to pick them up and that's when Dad suggested a trip out to Harbor Freight so he could buy another one or two of their wee solar panels (perfect for connecting to a piece of equipment to keep it's battery charged). I can usually depend on Mom or Dad to come up with something to do. :>)

Harbor Freight is one of those places that I know is north of downtown on a principal arterial, but I never pay attention on exactly how to get there. As we tried out one route after another, I have to admit, I was enjoying myself and really wasn't in a hurry. The climate in the car was so much better than what awaited us in the house. But the lunch hour was getting close, so I decided it was time to ask for help. I called N, "Portland Rd", he informed me, "where are you now?"
"Um, Roth's parking lot on River Rd. N. What's the easiest way to get there from here?"
He began to give me directions, but suggested it would be better to pull out the GPS. (That's not an adventure! ;>)) But we pulled out Reggie, punched in an address guess along with Portland Rd. I couldn't tell you exactly how Reggie got us there, but it was pretty quick.
Mom and Dad made their purchase. I punched in another address guess--this time we were headed to Word of Mouth for lunch. Since we were busy chatting, the 25 minute wait for a table went by like 10. Mom proclaimed the clam chowder the best she's ever had-"no kidding!", she added. High praise from someone who's been eating soup that many years!